Thermocapillary pumping is one promising method for generating flow
in a microfluidics device. ppNIPAM is a plasma-deposited surface
coating developed at the University of Washington. Experiments were
conducted to determine ppNIPAM's ability to enhance thermocapillary
pumping. A diode-pumped frequency tripled Nd:YAG laser (355nm) was
used for fabrication. Silicon was optimally machined at 10kHz,
50mm/s, z=1.1mm. Sapphire was optimally machined at 10kHz,
10mm/s, z=1.6mm. An experimental setup for heating in the sub-
hotplate regime (RT - 50C with +/- 1C resolution) is described and
characterized.